Property case law update: October 2011

Daventry D C v Daventry & District Housing Ltd –13.10.11 – CA – [2011] EWCA 1153
Sale of Land – Transfer of housing stock and housing department staff to RSL – Rectification – Common Mistake – Unilateral Mistake.
Held: Rectification for common mistake allowed where there was no shared mistake about the meaning of the term in issue and because there was a shared belief that the document reflected an earlier draft in that respect. (Counsel for the Defendant/Respondent – Nigel Jones QC & Alison Meacher). 

Quigley v Masterson – 7.10.11 – Ch D – [2011] EWHC 2529
Beneficial joint tenancy – Severance – Co-habitees separate – Court of Protection appointed deputy for one – Conduct of proposed sale by one – Death before sale.
Held: Application in Court of Protection by one party making desire to sell and split proceeds operated as sufficient notice of severance. (Counsel for the Respondent – Andrew Skelly)

Alford v Hannaford – 7.10.11 – CA – [2011] EWCA Civ 1099
Express right of way – Construction – Implied right of way – Whether grazing licence sufficient for s62
Held: Background facts can aid construction where clear something wrong with the words otherwise words to be given their ordinary mean – No right to drive animals along track where not expressly stated. Evidence about the location at the time of grant could assist in construing the area to which the right related. A grazing licence was not sufficient to give rise to an implied grant under s62.